–George Sheffield “And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.“ (Gen 2:9) God created a beautiful garden. But there was one tree off limits--the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This was His tree and fruit, whose purpose was to be left alone by man.
There are things reserved only for God. Dt 29:29 teaches “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God“--not us. The tree was forbidden because Adam and Eve could not handle the fruit it produced. Humanity has never been able to contend with the knowledge of good and evil. Our sinful frames balk at the morality that God demands. Just read your history books. Listen to the daily news.
God’s tree was also a test, a test of our first parents’s free will, a test they failed. When we disobey God and try to be God by eating His fruit, we will fail. This is why God gave us the Bible. To warn us of the evil around us, to keep us from hurting ourselves. The thou shalt nots are for our protection from sin which will always, always, hurt us. Leave the thou shalt not fruit alone.
